Terrible, Terrible!: A Retold Folktale (Carolrhoda Picture Books) [Paperback]

Robin Bernstein (Author), Shauna Mooney Kawaski (Illustrator)

Book Description

Age Level: 5 and up | Grade Level: K and up | Series: Carolrhoda Picture Books

In this contemporary retelling of the classic Jewish folktale, a rabbi advises a blended family how to deal with their overcrowded house.

--This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

With only limited success, Bernstein updates the classic Yiddish folktale so superbly told in Margot Zemach's It Could Always Be Worse. In this version, an only child objects to cramped quarters after her mother marries a man with four children. Acting on the advice Abigail has solicited from the rabbi (a woman), the family starts storing all their bicycles in the house. When Abigail reports back the next day, telling the rabbi that things are "terrible, terrible, worse than before," the rabbi has the girl bring the family pets inside; after that, she asks the family to invite their "dozens of cousins" for an indefinite stay. Finally, when everyone and everything moves back out, the house feels roomy enough. The setup is contemporary, but Abigail's speech might as well be issued by a shtetl-dweller: "I can't lift my hand to wipe away my tears.... The walls moan, the floors groan, and I'm scared the beams will split." What begins as folktale devolves into slapstick, especially as the cousins march in (on "a thousand stomping feet"), and, as the humor stretches, the impact withers. The art doesn't help: garishly colored cartoons portray the family in histrionic poses, the theatrical effect exacerbated by the unchanging perspective in which everyone faces the viewer. In all the shtick, ordinary human feelings get crowded out. All ages.

Copyright 1998 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

--This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From School Library Journal

K-Gr 4--A modern-day version of a traditional Jewish folktale. When Abigail's mother marries a man with four children, the girl finds her new home far too crowded and chaotic and seeks help from the rabbi. The woman advises her to bring even more into the tiny house (bicycles, pets, "dozens of cousins"), creating situations that are increasingly "terrible, terrible, worse than before!" Brightly hued, cartoon illustrations nicely convey the sense of chaos, with objects, animals, and family members practically spilling off of the pages. However, the characterizations are weak, particularly those of the four stepsiblings, who remain nameless and voiceless, seeming to accept the drastic changes in their household with little more than a grimace. A timely premise in this age of blended families, this book is not as much fun as other standard versions of this story, such as Ann McGovern's Too Much Noise (Houghton, 1967).

Teri Markson, Los Angeles Public Library

Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 5 and up
  
• Paperback: 32 pages
• Publisher: Kar-Ben Pub (May 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1580130178
• ISBN-13: 978-1580130172
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 10.9 x 0.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,536,436 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #88 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Children's Books > People & Places > Multicultural Stories > Other

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars A fun update to a traditional story, January 25, 2010

By 

a reader (Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Terrible, Terrible!: A Retold Folktale (Carolrhoda Picture Books) (Paperback)

I really like this book. It's a fun update to the modern world, of a traditional Jewish story. I like that in this version the Rabbi is female, the protagonist is a young girl, and instead of moving farmyard animals into their house they are moving bicycles and other more modern gear into their house. I think it's easier and more fun for kids to relate to this version of the story than to the traditional version, but yet the essential parts of the story remain intact. Plus it's colorful, zany, and just fun to read. I recommend it.